Because Euphie sama Said So
by emichii
Summary: Whatever his precious Princess Euphemia asks, the ever-obedient knight Suzaku just cannot turn her down, no matter how ridiculous or immature it is.
1. The Bedtime Story

**emichii: Hi everyone! ^_^ I have never written a Code Geass fic before, but once I finally got over how tragic and depressing the Euphie/Suzaku story was, I simply had to write a fic for them! So I hope you enjoy my first Code Geass fic!! Please read and review!! **

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass.

Because Euphie-sama Said So

**Chapter One: The Bedtime Story **

Suzaku Kururugi always agreed with that gentle polite smile of his. Always.

Euphemia could always depend on him to do that. Suzaku was her personal knight, the one she'd chosen amidst all the controversy of his being an Eleven, above all that. And he was the somewhat long-suffering ever-obedient knight with the gentle smile, whatever she asked of him.

Princess Euphemia waited somewhat impatiently, looking up at the clock. It was late, almost eleven at night. She sat on her bed, in her nightgown, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

There was a knock on her bedroom door, and her older sister Cornelia poked her head in, her long deep purple hair cascading down past her face. "Euphie, you're still awake?"

"Uhuh," she answered her, brightly, still energetic.

"…are you waiting for _him _again?" Cornelia asked, raising an eyebrow. Euphemia could tell from the slight change in tone that she did not encourage the close relationship Euphie had with Suzaku. "He's not your butler, you know. He's your knight."

"They're pretty similar," Euphemia shrugged. She smiled shyly to herself. As long as Suzaku hadn't worked out the difference between the two roles, and continued to obediently answer every request she had, she was happy.

Somewhere downstairs, in the huge hallway, there was the sound of the front door clicking open and closed again, as well as footsteps that echoed along the huge polished marble floor.

"Suzaku-kun!!" Euphemia jumped to her feet.

Cornelia Li Britannia rolled her eyes and left, heading to her own bedroom chambers.

---

Suzaku yawned a little tiredly, as he made his way through the hallway. Lloyd had kept him back late, trying out a new upgrade for the Lancelot. Of course, he would love to go in the other direction right now and head towards his own sleeping quarters, instead of towards where his princess resided.

But to say he had utmost devotion to Euphemia would be wrong, it was almost as strong the other way round. She was a princess, and he was only her knight, and he was Japanese.

He did everything she asked, as ridiculous as it may be. Such things included teaching her how to ride a bike, and losing tennis matches to her purposely just because she was so horrible at it and he didn't want to hurt her feelings by. Of course, she figured out what was happening once she served the racket by mistake and got quite huffy with him.

He got behind on his schoolwork even, when she gave him that look with her pleading violet eyes and that cute pout on her face, asking him to _"Please, _Suzaku-kun_, please _won't you come down to the shops with me and find that ultra-limited-edition collector's life-sized Gundam model?"

And he'd stare at her, and his heart would speed up, and damn, of course he couldn't say no!! Not when she looked at him like that, not when she asked so innocently and said his name like that.

He sighed lightly to himself. He had to work out what his actual responsibilities as her personal knight were. He was pretty damn sure that it did not include chasing her down the street when she tried to ride a skateboard or building the world's largest house out of cards for her while she watched him meticulously working, balanced on the ladder.

But always, all the time, even though it stressed him out, even though he was constantly bending over backwards to answer her requests, as soon as she smiled at him, and said thankyou in that sweet voice of hers, as soon as he smiled and nodded, she'd always beam back at him. And her pretty violet eyes would glisten and she'd give him that adorable smile of hers. As soon as she did that, he didn't care anymore. He didn't care if he had to scale Mount Everest, if he had to bring her back a piece of the moon, if he had to beg JK Rowling to write another Harry Potter book just for Euphie; he'd do it.

But… he didn't get it, she always looked so happy to see him, and he couldn't understand why. He also didn't see why she liked to spend so much time with him. Sure, he was her knight, but that was all. He would give her life for her, but that didn't mean she had to spend so much time with him, deliberately requesting that they occasionally eat meals together and such.

He was tired, and he complained about it in his mind, but as soon he knew that as he saw her smiling face, always absolutely delighted to see him, nothing ever mattered anymore.

---

"Suzaku!! You're back!" She came running down the staircase towards him, leaping off the second-last step, sliding over the polished marble floor in her slippers.

Suzaku smiled despite himself. And then his eyes widened, and his face grew red and he was immediately very flustered. "Eu-Euphemia-sama, wh-what are you _wearing?_"

Euphie stopped and looked down at herself. "My nightgown… is it too short?" She frowned, fiddling with it, and pulling the hem down to her knees. She blushed furiously, "Oh no, now I feel really… immodest."

Suzaku fumbled over his words. "N-no, never mind, Euphie… You look fine, as always."

She looked up and smiled with relief.

Suzaku looked away and breathed in and out deeply. _Good grief! What the hell? _His face was bright red. _What was that before? It's not even that short! But I- NO! I can't be having such fantasies about Euphie-sama! _

Suzaku felt his face flaming and gritted his teeth. _She isn't that kind of girl! She's so innocent! _

"Suzaku, what's wrong?" She stood there, looking at him, wide-eyed, head tilted to the side, wondering why he was acting so strange.

He only glanced at her for a second. _She's too cute!! _

"Ahaha…" he chuckled unconvincingly as he tried to calm himself down, make his face go back to its normal complexion. "Well… it's late, Euphie-sama, I should retire. Goodnight."

He turned and started towards the opposite end of the estate.

"Wait, Suzaku-kun."

He stopped and slowly turned around. "Yes, Euphemia-sama?"

She looked shyly at him. "Will you do something for me?"

Her nightgown went three-quarters down her thigh, it was a creamy white. Her pale slender legs seemed to go on forever, and she looked at him with that pleading gaze. Her lovely pink hair fell carelessly over her shoulder and down her back. Her shoulders were small and pale; she was still fiddling with the hem of her nightgown, and her fingers nervously gripping the edge of it.

Suzaku's face burnt up again. "Eu-Euphie…" he stuttered.

She looked up at him innocently. "Will you read me a bedtime story, Suzaku?"

---

She sat in her bed, hugging her knees up to her chest, her blanket pulled up snugly to her shoulders. She had a small smile on her face as she listened to Suzaku's clear voice reading out the fairy tale to her.

Suzaku sat in front of her, reading from the book. He was aware of how Euphie leaned forward to look at the pictures on each page, and he was sure to keep his voice even and clear for her to hear.

Personally, Suzaku really didn't like fairy tales very much. They were so repetitive and unbelievable. They always ended the same way. Everyone always ended up living happily ever after, mainly because afterwards, there was no more story to tell, there was nothing else to add.

_But it's not possible for there to always be a happily ever after… _Suzaku thought to himself, his green eyes gazing down at the last words of the page.

"…Suzaku?" Euphie said, waking him out from his short reverie.

"Eh?" Suzaku blinked, noticing his princess still waiting eagerly for the last line of the story. "Oh! Um, and they, uh," Suzaku tripped over the words, "Um, and they lived happily ever after. The end."

Unlike Suzaku, Euphemia seemed completely satisfied by this ending.

Suzaku still seemed to be in a slight daze as he closed the book and reached over to place it on Euphie's bedside table.

"Thankyou, Suzaku," Euphemia smiled. "Thankyou for reading it to me."

To her surprise, he did not do what he usually did. He didn't smile in that gentle knowing way as usual and tell her that it was his pleasure.

"…Suzaku-kun?" She looked at him worriedly, care evident in her eyes. She pulled the blanket off her knees and came closer to kneel beside him.

Suzaku was looking off in a different direction. He suddenly became aware that she was watching him, that she had moved closer, that she was right beside him.

"Um…" Suzaku was careful to avoid her eyes as he spoke. "…I was just thinking about how it's always a Prince Charming." He turned to smile timidly at her, "You know, it's always the prince who comes and sweeps the princess off her feet."

Euphie looked at Suzaku with her wide purple eyes. And then she smiled. "No…" she said quietly, "Sometimes, it's the knight. The knight in shining armour."

Suzaku's eyes widened in surprise. His face turned red as he stared at her. She looked right back at him with her pretty violet eyes. A tinge of her smile still remained on her lips as she held his gaze.

They stared at each other for what seemed like ages.

And her face was so close to his! Suzaku felt his chest tighten, damn, his heartbeat was racing out of his chest, and he swore that she could hear it, that all the other residents in the building, in the estate, could hear it!

He couldn't look away from her; her innocent eyes had captured his. Her face was only centimeters from his, her lips just inches from his. His face flushed. She was so close. He could just lean forward and kiss her!

The heat rose up in Suzaku's cheeks, his pulse went so fast. Suddenly, he leapt up and got to his feet, his face burning the whole time. He started backing out of the room quickly. "Ah… anyway, it's late! I-I should get going now, Your Highness."

"…Suzaku?" Euphie watched, baffled. She didn't even bother to scold him for calling her 'Your Highness', seeing how flustered the poor guy was.

He paused in the doorway, his heart still doing somersaults in his chest, something like hysteria running throughout him. Euphemia was still kneeling there on the bed, watching him with surprise and confusion.

He struggled to find some composure, pull himself together. He managed to calm down enough to bid her goodnight in his gentlemanly fashion.

Suzaku smiled graciously, in his usual kind manner. "Goodnight, Euphie-sama."

And then the princess's knight turned and left, walking until he was completely out of her sight before breaking into a run.

**End of chapter 1! Well, this is basically a fanfiction I just came up with off the top of my head, so I can't guarantee when the next chapter will come out. But I hope you enjoyed it! Yeah, I remember thinking so many times during the first season of Code Geass, "KISS HER, SUZAKU, YOU IDIOT! KISS HER ALREADY!!" Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Please review! ^_^ emichii **


	2. The School Day

**Hiya everyone! Thanks for all the faves and alerts, and thanks for the reviews! But tell you what, if you have time to fave and alert this story, please write me a review too! XD cause reviews make the world go round and are really encouraging! **

**READ and REVIEW! Hope you enjoy chapter 2! emichii**

**Chapter Two: The School Day**

"Um… Suzaku-kun…?"

Suzaku looked at his precious princess. She was standing in front of him, her hands clutched together tightly, her eyes shyly looking at him under her long eyelashes, her lovely pink hair falling down her back like always.

He could tell she wanted something.

"What is it, Your highness?"

She pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. "No, Suzaku, no! It's _Euphie_! Call me Euphie!"

"Euphie… sama." Suzaku's face went bright red, and he quickly pulled his gaze away from her and stared off to the side.

"So… I was thinking," the princess said, "that today I would like to go to school,"

"Huh?" He stared at her blankly.

It was early Wednesday morning and Suzaku was standing in the lobby, dressed in his school uniform. Princess Euphemia was standing across from him, wide awake, with a serious expression on her face.

"I want to go school too," Euphie said again.

Suzaku's face paled. "Eu-Euphie-sama, why so suddenly…?" he began, but he knew it was feeble to argue, because once Euphemia had her mind made up, it was impossible to change it.

"It's okay!" Euphie said brightly, a smile now on her face. "I'll be very careful! In fact, I've already got everything all set out! I'll make sure nobody works out who I am!"

She was so enthusiastic, so happy. Suzaku felt every last drop of his willpower disappearing.

"…Princess, I'd really prefer it if you stayed here. It's much safer and…" Suzaku said gently.

"I know I'll be safe with you, Suzaku!" She looked up at him and beamed. "After all, you are my personal Knight and you will always protect me!"

Well. He couldn't argue with that.

Euphemia watched him carefully.  
_Three… two… one… _She chanted in her mind when just as she predicted, Suzaku took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

The weary ever-suffering knight smiled weakly. "Fine." He began to slowly turn away and get ready for one heck of a school day coming up.

Then he turned back and stared seriously at her, green eyes blazing with protectiveness. "But just today, okay?" He said sternly.

"Okay!" She agreed happily.

She watched him wearily packing up his school bag and she smiled. "Besides," she said quietly, "I feel the safest only when I am with you,"

Suzaku didn't hear her.

---

Suzaku sighed wearily to himself. Euphemia had somehow managed to get a hold of the girls' Ashford Academy uniform, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself. She wore glasses and had pulled her long pink hair into pigtails, and she was also wearing a hat. Her socks didn't match. One was long and striped and the other one was bright red and baggy.

Suzaku shook his head. Maybe somehow the mismatch made her look… even cuter?

Suzaku blushed and shook himself hard. _No! It's not allowed! Can't… be thinking… of Euphemia-sama like that!! _

"Suzaku-kuuuun!!" Euphie was suddenly calling out, running over towards him, her smile bright on her face, and one hand holding onto her hat. "Hurry up! Hurry up! We're going to be late for class!"

Suzaku was smiling as he welcomed the presence of his beloved princess coming towards him, but that smile quickly froze in horror as he saw the crowd of male students following behind her.

"Wait! Wait, Eu-Euphie! Would you like me to carry your books for you?"

"Oh! Um, are you free this afternoon? Wanna go… out somewhere?"

"Euphie! What's your next class? Want me to walk you there, since you're new and all that?"

Quickening his pace, he pulled Euphie away from the crowd and quickly led her to the student council with him, his face red, and not answering to Euphie's questions about where they were going.

---

"This is Euphie," Suzaku said quickly, so that he didn't accidentally call her '-sama' or '-hime'. "And this is the Ashford Academy Student Council."

The student council looked up to see the pink-haired girl standing beside the knight. Rivalz blushed in the presence of the pretty girl, and Lelouch narrowed his eyes, as though maybe he could recognize who it was.

Suzaku threw the princess a wary look and the princess simply smiled right back at him, completely innocent.

Suzaku picked up a pile of papers from the desk and left the student council room to make photocopies, feeling worried about leaving Euphemia alone with the others.

Almost as soon as Suzaku had disappeared out the door, the disastrous student council exploded into action.

"Euphie!!" cried the energetic Milly Ashford, who was just as equally engaging and overbearing with perfect strangers as well as with the other members of the student council. The blonde president practically pushed Rivalz out of his seat so that she could sit next to Euphie.

Rivalz stumbled out of the chair, but didn't seem to really mind being pushed away by _her_, blushing slightly as he ran a hand absently through his hair.

"So you're just here for today, right?" Milly asked, and not giving Euphie a chance to respond, grabbed the girls' hands in hers and said, "Then there's a lot you'll have to do in one day!"

"Milly…" Shirley began, shooting Euphie an apologetic look.

"Huh? Oh!" Milly abruptly let go of Euphie and jumped to her feet. "I forgot to introduce everyone! Gosh, that Suzaku! The first thing on his mind is always work, work, work; doesn't even introduce his girlfriend to everyone!"

"Girlfriend??" Shirley, Rivalz, Lelouch, Kallen and Nina burst out.

"Um, wait, but-" Euphemia tried to explain, but Milly's loud voice overrode hers. "Anyway, so, I'm Milly Ashford! And this is Shirley, Lelouch, Rivalz, Kallen and Nina."

_Lelouch… _thought Euphie to herself. But Lelouch didn't seem to be acting as though he knew her. _Oh well… I guess he doesn't want anyone to know who he really is. _

"So, when did you and Suzaku-kun get together?" Shirley asked, pulling out a chair across from Euphie and sitting down. She smiled. "Who would've known? Suzaku's a bit of a dimwit! We didn't know he had it in him to get himself a girlfriend!"

Euphemia coughed and adjusted her glasses. "No, actually we're-"

She was interrupted by the sound of paws padding carefreely across the table. It was Arthur.

"Oh!" Euphemia was thoroughly distracted. "Who's this?"

"This," grinned Rivalz, picking up the cat, "is Arthur."

Just then, Suzaku came in the doorway, arms full of photocopies and papers. Seeing his favourite scratching post, Arthur came bounding out of Rivalz's arms and tearing across the floor towards the doorway.

"Oh crap! Arthur!" Rivalz chased after the cat.

"Hm?" asked an unsuspecting Suzaku. The cat took a huge leap and flew at Suzaku, knocking the poor boy backwards onto the floor, sending the sheets flying everywhere.

"Ow! Ow, Arthur, please stop!" Suzaku gritted his teeth as the cat raised a claw to scratch him again on the face.

Kallen quietly knelt down and started gathering the photocopies of the floor. Lelouch went over and helped. Rivalz grabbed the cat and tried to pull Arthur away from Suzaku, who was holding his arms in front of his face, and getting them scratched by the cat.

"Whoaa!!" Arthur pushed off Rivalz's arms and landed on Suzaku's face, pushing the boy down against the floor again. Arthur turned around and sent the student council what seemed to be a victorious smirk and went pouncing out the door.

"Damn!! Get that cat!" Rivalz shouted, tearing out the door.

Shirley got up and ran out after him, shouting out for Arthur. "Ah, I forgot!" She came back and called into the council room, "Can someone get me the cat treats? We should try bribing him back in!"

"Ah! Um… um… I'll get them!" Nina stammered, getting up and clumsily tripping over and knocking the chair over.

Milly suddenly turned away, pulling out a microphone from seemingly nowhere and fiddling with some switches on it.

"Man," muttered Suzaku as he picked himself up off the floor, "that cat really hates me!"

"Hates you?" The blonde president turned around and sent a bright smile in his direction. "Arthur adores you! That's how he shows his affection!"

"Hmph," Lelouch snickered to himself as he also straightened up, slightly crumpled papers in his hands.

"Suzaku! Are you all right?"

"Hm?" Suzaku looked at his beloved princess, now getting up from her chair, her lovely pink hair in its pigtails, and her glasses not hiding the care in her pretty violet eyes. Suzaku let out a laugh. Euphie stared in wonder.

"Me? I'm fine!" He let out jovially. "This is pretty normal actually! I'm used to getting beaten up much worse than this in the army and stuff!"

"Suzaku…" Euphie stared at him, a bit surprised, still reaching out as if to grab his arm and tend to it.

Suzaku turned away from her, politely apologizing to Kallen about making her pick up the papers.

"Tch," Kallen rolled her eyes, while no-one else apart from Suzaku could see.

Suzaku laughed again, taking the papers off her and going to stand beside Lelouch at the desk to straighten them out.

Euphie stood there, and watched her knight with wide surprised eyes.

"Okaaayyyy!!" The president's loud voice shouted out beside her. "This is your student council president, Milly Ashford speaking!!" She said into the microphone, and Euphie could hear her voice coming out from the speakers in the hallway.

"Just to let you all know, there's a cat running loose on campus!! We'd like your assistance in getting it back please! In fact, whoever catches the cat and brings it back will…" Milly turned away from the mike and surveyed the council, searching for an innocent victim.

"…score a date with…"

She noticed Lelouch sitting quietly in his seat and her eyes lowered slightly, an almost non-existent flicker of pain across her face. Suddenly, her eyes widened as though a brand-new idea had just occurred to her.

"…our incredibly handsome and famous Brittanian Knight Suzaku Kururugi!!" she shouted out into the microphone.

"Wait…-Whaaatt?" The slightly slow brunette raised his head and stared incredously at the energetic blonde.

"You heard me, Suzaku-kuuuun," smiled Milly, switching the mike off and putting it down.

"Milly, you can't do that!" Suzaku cried pleadingly, "I… I have responsibilities! I have no _time _to go on a date!! I don't _want to_-"

"Sorry, Suzaku, no can do!" Milly shook her head.

The slightly-bored looking Lelouch lifted his head and saw Euphemia, staring silently at the floor, her eyes hidden behind her glasses.

"You don't get it, Milly, I have to-" Suzaku tried to explain, thinking: _I have to look after Euphemia-sama! And besides, it's not like I'd wanna go on a date with anyone other than- well- _

Suzaku's face went pink. Then he quickly shut his eyes and shook himself out of it. _No!! Remember, that's not allowed! Can't think of Euphemia-sama like that! Besides, even if she _wasn't _a princess, she'd never…_

…_Suzaku-kun… _Euphemia was staring down at the floor with a strange intensity in her eyes, and her fingers clenched tightly into fists.

Outside in the courtyard, she could hear the energetic footsteps racing around the campus, and the cries of excited girls.

"Wait…" Suzaku was frowning, as though he'd only just thought of something. "Before…" his face turned red, "Did you call me… _incredibly handsome_??"

"Of course, Suzaku-kun!" Milly said cheerfully, reaching out to pat him on the back. "Even with the cat scratches on your face."

"ARTHUR!!! ARTHUR!!" came the echoing cries down the hallway, followed by heaps of thundering footsteps.

Euphie took a deep breath and ran out of the student council room.

"Eh??" Suzaku turned. "Euphie?"

_Oh damn! Euphemia-sama! _He was alarmed. He couldn't let her run off alone in campus!

"Oh!" Milly was also surprised.

"Waaaaiiitt! Euphie!!" Suzaku ran after her and towards the doorway, only to run smack-bam into Nina, who was just returning from bringing Shirley some cat treats. Nina bumped into Suzaku and then tripped past him, accidentally knocking into Lelouch's chair, which went shooting forward and sent Lelouch shooting forward as well and out of his chair straight into Kallen, knocking her over backwards onto the floor and falling on top of her.

"Sorry, Nina," apologized Suzaku and went tearing out the doorway and into the hallway, screaming for his princess.

"…Lelouch…" Kallen said angrily through gritted teeth.

Lelouch's expression was the same as usual, as he looked down at Kallen, who was sprawled out on the floor under him.

Kallen's face was red and anger marks appearing on her forehead. Her fists were trembling. "I'm going to _kill_ you, Lelouch," she said angrily.

Lelouch smirked down at her. "I thought Kallen Stadtfield wouldn't dare use such threatening language."

Kallen was speechless.

---

The school campus was in uproar. Girls were running all over the place, shouting and giggling. It made Suzaku feel kind of uncomfortable. Did they all… really want to date him? People were climbing trees, setting out pieces of food along the pavement, re-acting out cat food commercials, crawling around and making cat noises…

He spotted a boy who was also seriously running around and looking for Arthur.

Suzaku's face paled.

"SUZAKUUU-KUN!!" Someone was shouting out at him. He could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Euphemia-sama!" He called back. Luckily, nobody heard him say her full name as they were all too busy searching for the cat.

"Suzaku-kun!!" She was running towards him, her glasses askew, and her pink hair in their pigtails streaming out behind her. She was carrying something in her arms, and as she got closer, Suzaku could see the grey fur.

"I found him!" She told him, delightedly. "I found Arthur!!"

"…you… Your Highness…" he stammered out, shocked.

"Yeah!" She beamed at him, running up to him, Arthur cradled in her arms. She stood there, so close, right in front of him, the tips of their shoes touching. Her smile was beautiful, Euphie with her silly outfit, her mismatched socks, her glasses, her pigtails…

"Heeyyy! Suzaku!!" Milly was running down the path towards him as well, followed by the rest of the student council.

Suzaku could tell that the school day was pretty much over. And he looked at his sweet princess in front of him and he smiled honestly, happily at her, which made her stare at him in wonder.

"H-here!" Euphie stammered out, which she did not normally do, but seeing Suzaku smile like that shocked her. She held the cat out, and Arthur leapt across into Suzaku's arms, but instead of staying there, the cat clawed Suzaku across the shoulder and jumped out again.

Arthur tore down the path and sent the student council racing after him again. Seeing the cat running across the campus made the other students shout out and race after it, and the campus was an uproar again.

"Oh…" Euphemia sighed, her shoulders dropping. "He got away again."

Suzaku smiled and chuckled lightly. "It's okay."

Euphie raised her head and looked at her knight.

He held out his hand to her in his gentlemanly fashion. "The school day's over. Let's go home, Euphemia-sama."

---

They sat together on the train ride back, Euphemia still in her disguise so that nobody knew who she was.

"Well… was it worth it?" Suzaku asked quietly. "Did you have fun?"

Euphemia was silent for a moment. "Mmhmm… yeah." she looked up at him for a moment, "I had fun today 'cause it was at Suzaku's school! And with Suzaku's friends!" She smiled.

Suzaku looked away for a moment, his voice suddenly hoarse. "Uhuh…"

He was suddenly aware of her hand on his arm. He looked at her, surprised.

"I noticed that when you're at school with your friends- with the student council, you smile and laugh so much more! And… it's a really… happy and honest smile! And… I thought it was really amazing!" She looked down at her feet, shyly. She looked up again and at him, her violet eyes meeting his green ones. "That's… what I liked most about school today."

He stared wide-eyed at her. And then, he lowered his head and chuckled, lightly, a little embarrassed. "Yes… maybe, but… what made me smile the hardest today was seeing you, Euphemia-sama, running towards me with Arthur!"

Euphemia blinked and then smiled secretly to herself, feeling her face go slightly pink.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, just watching the scenery rush past the windows.

And then, Suzaku blurted out, "You know what I've been thinking about your disguise all day?"

"What?"

"…You look like a cosplayer." he said, his face flushing.

"…cosplayer?" repeated Euphie thoughtfully.

Her eyes seemed to twinkle and her mouth curved upwards in a mischievous grin.

Suzaku felt his spirit deteriorate. He knew he shouldn't have mentioned it.

**Thanks for reading, and thanks for the waiting so long for this update! ^_^ I hope you liked it! Please review!! **


	3. The Anime Convention

**Code Geass doesn't belong to me!! _ If it did, then Euphie and Suzaku would be living happily ever after. And Lelouch would have magically become immortal through some strange glitch in the Geass system and have gone off to travel the world with CC, having retired from taking over the world. **

**I'm apologizing beforehand. I know absolutely nothing about Gundam Seed, so please forgive me!! _**

**Chapter Three: The Anime Convention **

"Look, look right there!" Euphemia said furiously, stabbing at the air with the remote control.

"Where, Euphemia-sama?" Suzaku looked flustered.

"Over there!" Euphie's voice picked up a slightly whiny tone as she pointed at the television screen. The television was huge and filled up the majority of the entire wall. Euphemia was seated on top of a luxurious leather couch, for some reason surrounded by a stack of manga and DVDs.

Suzaku looked up at the screen, she had paused the anime she was watching. Lacus Clyne was taking up the screen; on the side was Kira Yamato.

Suzaku looked quizzically at his princess. "Yes?"

Euphie gave a delighted little laugh. "I was thinking of cosplaying as Lacus for the anime convention today!"

"Cosplaying…? Lacus?" Suzaku mumbled. And then, his eyes widened and he shouted out, "TODAY??"

"Sure," Euphemia smiled as she picked up at coloured magazine at her feet and spread it out to the full-coloured spread in the middle. "The thing about cosplaying is that you should always choose a character that you like, and that you share some similarities with. Like physical features and body shape."

"How do you know so much about cosplay, Your Highness?"

Euphemia sent a piercing glare at Suzaku. "It's not 'your highness, it's Euphie!"

Suzaku stood stiffly beside her. "Sorry, Euphie…-sama."

She grinned as she looked down excitedly at her anime magazines, flicking through the pages. "Well… you mentioned something about cosplaying the other day, and so I started to get really interested in it, you know? I went online and read through some cosplay guides and looked at some amazing cosplay photography, so now I'm really inspired!"

Suzaku smiled with difficulty down at his princess. "But why Lacus?"

She looked up at him, concern now on her face. Her voice dropped slightly. "Suzaku-kun… why won't you sit down with me?" She patted the spot beside her on the couch.

Suzaku kept his voice stern and distant. "No, Euphie-sama… I… I'm simply your knight, I'm fine standing here."

Euphie looked down dejectedly. "Oh…"

They were silent for a moment. "…I was thinking that since she has pink hair and violet eyes just like me, it'd be a good choice to cosplay as her. See?" She said, suddenly cheerily as she pointed at the picture.

Suzaku smiled gently. "You'll make a great Lacus. But don't you think that it's a bit short notice to have everything ready for a convention _today_?"

"Hm?" Euphemia looked up at him with wide violet eyes. "No, I have my maids already specially preparing my costume and accessories."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and a group of maids wheeled in on a trolley Euphemia's costume, complete with Lacus' hair clips and shoes, everything made professionally and just to fit Euphemia.

Suzaku was at a lost for words.

The maids bustled around arranging the costume. Euphemia stood up and said quietly, "I think it's really exciting how the Japanese can get so into things like this. It all looks like so much fun."

And man, just hearing her quiet thoughtful voice like that, and her yearning to try it too, Suzaku felt his heart sink.

"…you really like all this Japanese stuff, don't you?" Suzaku asked, gesturing down at Euphie's pile of manga books and thinking of her expansive collection of memorabilia and merchandise.

After all, as her devoted knight, he was usually the one running around to get her the newest releases and super-limited editions of her figurines, including that ultra-limited-edition collector's life-sized Gundam model…

"Yeah," she smiled freely at him.

Suzaku frowned. But as the Brittanian princess, wasn't it a bit risky to go wandering around with a bunch of proud Japanese otakus?

She knew what he was thinking. "It's okay!" She said cheerfully, I'll be in cosplay, remember? Today, I'm just going to be another anime fan; I won't be Euphemia li Britannia, I'll be Lacus Clyne for the whole day!"

She was so excited for it. Suzaku hid a small smile.

"By the way, who did you think I looked like the other day when you said I looked like a cosplayer?"

"Huh?" Suzaku flushed. "Oh, that was nothing!"

"Come on, Suzaku-kun… who was it??"

Suzaku grew flustered as he turned from her and tried to change to subject. "It's really nothing, really! Now, when does your anime convention start anyway? Have you got everything? Are you sure you'll be all right? I'm coming with you by the way, just to make sure you'll be safe and-"

"Suzaku."

He turned around and faced her.

Her face was serious and authoritative as she commanded him. "I order you to tell me, Suzaku Kururugi."

_That's not fair, Princess!! _Suzaku gaped and his face burned.

"Well?"

Suzaku's voice fell softer and softer as he hung his head and muttered: "I just thought… with your baggy socks and pink pigtails… and glasses you kinda… maybe… looked a bit like Ringo from Air Gear…"

Euphie blinked. Then smiled. "Haha, really? Speaking of Air Gear, I had been considering cosplaying as Simca."

"Ehh? You know Air Gear?" Suzaku looked shocked. _But, but… isn't it..._

"Yeah," Euphie shrugged. Then she grinned at her knight, "I'm surprised _you _know it, Suzaku-kun. You seem so innocent; I wouldn't expect you to know a shonen manga like that. Isn't Air Gear… _ecchi?_"

Suzaku wanted to die.

Luckily, Euphie wasn't one to dwell on things like that. She went on, looking up at the time on the corner of the huge television. "It starts at 10am, so there's only an hour to get ready! Oh yeah, and you know why else I wanted to cosplay as Lacus?"

Suzaku could hardly bring himself to look her in the eyes. "…why?"

She held out a coat hanger on which a carefully pressed blue suit jacket and pants. The jacket had a very distinctive red collar. "Because you can go with me as Kira Yamato!!"

Suzaku could not even find the words to start protesting. Euphemia carefully laid his costume in his arms.

"Quickly now," she singsonged as she and her maids started moving into another room to get changed. "Hurry up and get changed!"

Suzaku was frozen, standing in the large lounge room next to the pile of manga books and still with Lacus' face staring down at him from the huge television screen.

"Oh, and Suzaku," Euphie said as she looked back at him before leaving, "Do you think the Lancelot looks more like ZGMF-X10A Freedom or ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom?"

---

"This absolutely ridiculous and I have no idea what the point of this is. Can we just go home, CC?"

"I told you," CC said bluntly. "I'm not CC, I'm Chachamaru."

"But what is the _point _of this?" Lelouch threw up his hands, almost dropping his Deathnote as he did so.

"There is none," CC told him. "It's just that in all the hundreds of years I've lived, I have never been to an anime convention."

"So?" Lelouch started angrily, and then was silenced as CC stared at him with large golden eyes. She was unable to wear green contacts because her eyes burnt them straight through.

"Fine!!" He snapped. "But why did we have to _cosplay_??"

CC didn't answer, so Lelouch simply adjusted his dark-brown wig and grumbled. "Those robot ears really don't suit you."

She sniffed. "I would've gone as Tsuruya, but you wouldn't go as Haruhi."

"Of course not! I am not cross-dressing!"

The crowds around them looked and were amused at the uncharacteristically loud Light Yagami arguing with the green-haired robot.

"Besides," said Lelouch, "there are already plenty of Haruhis around. Unless that was the same Haruhi Suzumiya who passed me three times before."

"Well, I couldn't just go as myself," CC shrugged.

Light aka Lelouch grumbled as he and CC walked on.

"By the way," CC said, straightening up her Mahora Academy uniform. "Do you think Negima is considered ecchi or harem or both?"

---

"Suzaku, Suzaku!!"

Oh crap. She was holding his hand and pulling him after her.

Suzaku blushed and coughed. "Euphie-sama, aren't you meant to be in character? Does that mean you can't call me Suzaku?"

"Oh… yeah," Euphie realized. She smiled, "But did you know that Lacus and Kira are in love with each other?"

Suzaku also choked. "Wh-whaatt?"

She tightened her grip on his hand and smiled, that delightful beautiful smile that made him weak at the knees. "So we've got to be in character, right?"

"…right… Euphemia-sa… Lacus…"

And her hand was very warm in his, and yet it felt fragile at the same time. He didn't want to let go, ever, he wanted to take her with him wherever he went, to be able to protect her, to make sure that his princess was always safe.

_But… _But it was wrong to feel this way! Suzaku felt confused, and he gritted his teeth, tried to make the confusing thoughts go away. This was Euphemia-sama… she was princess, he was just a lowly knight… but still… her hand…

_I shouldn't! I can't… like Euphemia-sama that way… _even though… even though every time she smiled at him, he wanted to die. It was only because of that smile, because of her, that he could never disobey anything she said.

"Hey!" She burst out suddenly, "It's Ichigo! I have to go take a picture with him!"

"Okay," He replied and as he was pulled away, he bumped past Light Yagami, who had a scowl on his face, his Deathnote clutched tightly in one hand. "Sorry!"

Light looked at him and their eyes met.

_How embarrassing, how embarrassing- Is that… Is that LELOUCH?? _

_Don't let him recognize me, don't let him recognize me; don't let him recognize me… I'm Light, remember, not Lelouch Lamperouge! Besides, nobody from Ashford Academy would come here, I'm safe, no-one would… _

_Hmm… it sure LOOKS a lot like him…_

_Wait, is that- SUZAKU??_

_Naaaahhh, it can't be. _Suzaku thought, _there's no way Lelouch would go to an anime convention, let alone cosplay. But… he _would _fit the Light Yagami persona. _

_Suzaku?? I swear, that looks just like him! But why would Suzaku cosplay? Woudn't he be busy looking after Euphemia? _Lelouch thought.

_It's okay, can't be him. Besides, I'm cosplaying! He won't know its me! Just smile pleasantly and pretend to be just another cosplayer._

_Tchh… my reputation is at stake! Maybe he can't recognize me. I'll just smile and pretend to be another innocent cosplayer. _

Light Yagami and Kira Yamato smiled pleasantly at each other.

"You wouldn't happen to be… _Kira_, would you?" said Lelouch.

"…Kira? Hahaha, that's a good one!" Suzaku laughed.

"Hahahaa… yeah." Lelouch trailed off. "Well, um… I better go… got to write some names in my Deathnote, you know,"

"Yeah, hahaha…!" Suzaku laughed forcibly.

Lelouch and Suzaku walked off calmly in opposite directions for a couple of steps, before running away to hide in the crowd.

---

"Mokona, I think my hair is drooping."

"Of course it's drooping!" The giant white Mokona screamed. "Did you think it was possible to style your hair like that! You should've used a wig!"

Yugi Muto sighed.

"Aahh!! It's Gintoki! Gintoki, can I have a photo?"

Gintoki turned around and gave Lacus a quizzical expression, most befitting of his character. "I s'pose." He even had a weekly Shonen Jump rolled up and tucked into his belt.

"Can you take the picture, Kira?" She smiled sweetly.

"…sure." said Suzaku.

"You know, I've always wondered how Yugi's hair did that," frowned Chi, as she walked past, holding a giant stuffed Ponyo.

"I know, right?" Luffy said, after posing with Death the Kid for a photo. "And do you think his hair naturally grows in three different colours all lined up like that?"

_This is ridiculous… _Suzaku thought, his eyes tired from taking in all the bright and garish colours of the cosplayers. His arms were weighed down from the large bags full of merchandise. _What would anyone do with a giant remote-controlled Onix, anyway? _

He then became aware of the fact that Euphemia hadn't tugged him on the sleeve or pulled him away to stalk another anime character in a while. Suzaku looked up. The pink-haired girl was nowhere to be found.

"Euphie!" He blurted out without thinking before covering his mouth up with his hand. _Crap! I've lost her…! _

He looked all around him and all he saw were samurais, monsters, ninjas, robots, shinigami and pirates. Cosplayers and anime characters _everywhere! _

_Crap crap crap crap crap… _Suzaku bit his lip as he looked around desperately, anxiously, hoping that she wasn't too far away.

"Ahh!" _There she is! _He spotted her off by the copic marker stand, chatting with Kisame. He started to head over but was stopped by a group of giggling girls.

"Eh?" Suzaku was taken aback.

"Kira! Kira! Omigosh, I love you!!" One of them was jumping up and down. She was wearing the school uniform from Lucky Star.

"Can we take a picture with you? Pullleeeeaaazzzeee?"

"Anya, will you take the camera?"

Yin took the camera silently and stood back to fit them all in the picture.

Suzaku found himself overpowered. The girls crowded around him, snuggling close. "CHEESE!" They all shouted, making peace signs with their fingers.

"Another one, another one!" They all cheered. Suzaku bared his teeth and tried to look like he was smiling, not being choked to death.

"Hey, look! Grimmjow and Ichigo are doing yaoi poses!! EEEEEIIII!! "

"KYAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Konata was the one who lead the pack to capture the yaoi action at the other side of the room.

Suzaku staggered backwards, exhausted and traumatized. He accidentally backed into someone else and whirled around to face them. "…AARGHH!"

"…Chill out, dude," Kaname wiped blood from his mouth and looked at Kira disdainfully. "It's not real."

"…Sorry!" Suzaku stuttered and went on his way.

"Well…" Kaname frowned, as he experimentally licked the red liquid from his fangs. "I think it's not real…"

All Suzaku could see were waves and waves of colours- otakus and fangirls to be exact. And slightly perverted-looking photographers with chunky cameras. His eyes swirled and he tried to pull himself together.

_Euphie-sama! Where _are _you?? _He looked around in panic. He spied a crop of pink hair in the distance and started trying to get to it.

"There you are, thank God-" He started.

The cosplayer looked back at him.

"…sorry." Suzaku nodded apologetically and began backing away. "Sorry. I thought you were someone else."

He rushed off quickly, sweating. _That was a man!! That was a MAN dressed as Chibi Usagi!_

And he knew he shouldn't have let Euphie come here. How was he going to find her now? He tried looking around for her distinctive pink hair, but there was pink hair everywhere today! He couldn't afford to sift through all the Yachirus, Simcas, Megurine Lucas and men dressed as Chibiusa!!

Then, he thought he heard a scream from the other end of the room. Instinctively, he began to push his way through the crowd towards it.

Lacus was backed against the wall, being surrounded by three large otakus armed with cameras.

"Look, I said I'd do one photo, and I did it!" Euphemia was saying, "Now let me go!"

"Aww, c'mon, Lacus, just a few more!" One of them pleaded, his lewd eyes sweeping over her. "I'm your biggest fan, you know!"

"What you should do is lean forward and blow a kiss at the camera, like this!" Another cameraman demonstrated, puckering up his thick slimy lips.

"Yeah, strike a sexy pose for us, Lacus!"

Euphemia's fists tightened at the way they were defiling her favourite anime character. "Noo!" She started, and then one of them grabbed her arm. "Nooo!" She shrieked, "Let go!!"

"Euphemia-sama!" Suzaku screamed out her name, not caring who heard.

She looked up at the sound of her name, and her face was frustrated, tears visible in her eyes. "Suzakuuu!!"

"Let go of her!!" Suzaku exclaimed, racing up to the offending men and hitting one of them in the face, so that he let go of Euphie.

"Owwch!!" The guy mumbled as he rolled onto the floor.

"Are you all right, Euphemia-sama?" Suzaku held out his hand to help Euphie up.

Euphie looked flushed as she got to her feet. "Yeah, thanks, Suzaku."

"Wait," said Link from behind them. His green hat was so big that it was falling down over his eyes. "Did you just call her _Euphemia-sama?_ As in Euphemia li Britannia??"

Suzaku felt Euphie tighten her hold on his hand as she moved to hide behind him.

"The Brittanian Princess!" Someone huffed. "What would she want with an Eleven convention?"

Suzaku could feel Euphie's hand trembling in his. And suddenly he felt angry, heck, he knew he was the one who didn't want to be here in the first place, but Euphie had been so excited to come! He couldn't let her day be ruined just like this!

Then he noticed the lewd photographer picking himself up from the floor. He began to push towards Suzaku and Euphemia.

"I don't care who she is! I want a picture of my Lacus!"

Suzaku felt himself being shoved back and until he bumped into someone. And bounced off them…?

"S-Sorry!!" He stuttered out in bewilderment at the Totoro standing behind him. His (or her or its) stomach was huge and protruding so wide that it was hard to see the person's head.

The crowd around them was starting to grow louder and raucous, mumbling and gossiping, feeding rumours about the apparent Brittanian Princess and the lewd photography and the Totoro with the inflated belly.

"What's going on?" CC asked, her face emotionless. She was carrying a giant stuffed Elizabeth.

"…Suza-" Lelouch froze, and coughed. "I mean, that guy over there- Kira, he's getting into a bit of a mess."

"Yikes, be careful where you swing that thing, will you? It's actually sharp!" Someone was saying.

"Yeahh, haha!" Maaka blushed. "I was trying so hard to make it as realistic as possible I might've actually created a dangerous weapon."

"I-I told you!" Euphemia was saying, her violet eyes tearing up. "I'm not Euphemia, I'm Lacus!"

"Leave her alone!!" Suzaku was crying out above the crowd.

The crowd was starting to grow restless and excited, it was becoming a bit of an uproar.

"Well?" CC looked at Lelouch with her golden eyes. "Aren't you going to help him?"

Lelouch glared at CC and the big wide, eyelashed eyes of Elizabeth. "Tchh!" He muttered, "Fine!!"

Chachamaru smiled as Light stomped off to help Kira and Lacus.

"You know, Elizabeth," she said to the giant white duck, "You're just not as comfortable as Cheese-kun,"

---

Suzaku was struggling to push back the crowd gathering around Euphemia when Light stepped into the picture. He briskly reached into one of the bags Suzaku had hanging from his arm and in less than a second had assembled whatever it was he had taken out.

"Lelo…" Suzaku started, bewildered.

"I told you, I'm Light!" Lelouch snapped.

_We have to get out of here! _Suzaku struggled to keep holding onto Euphie's hand as the crowd pressed in around them. He was being mauled by Totoro's giant stomach, for God's sake!

"Look!" Light suddenly burst out, pointing out. "It's Onix!!"

Sure enough, a giant robotic remote-controlled Onix was towering above them. The crowd around them started to back away, to look up at the monstrous Pokémon. Suzaku managed to pull Euphemia away from the crowd and stumble back.

Some otaku began a loud four-part harmony rendition of the Pokémon theme song. Among the hustle, someone accidentally bumped into Yugi, whose hair obstructed another cosplayer's vision, making them shove into Hatsune Miku, who in turn tripped and knocked over another person so that they hit Maaka, who let out a cry as she let go of her dangerous weapon. Which, began twirling through the air and everyone screamed and went ducking and diving off in different directions, so that the crowd scattered immediately. There was a giant explosion.

"AWWW! I spent all morning inflating that stomach!!" Totoro cried out in despair.

"I'm sorry!!" Maaka was pleading.

In the confusion, Kira and Lacus managed to escape, running through the colourful crowd out the door. As he looked back, Suzaku tried to yell out a thanks to Light, or Lelouch, as he was so sure it was. "Thanks, Lelouch!!"

Light looked back at him and flushed slightly. "I told you, Suzaku! I'm Light!!"

---

"So… what did you do on the weekend?" Suzaku asked the next day, seated at his school desk.

"…not much." Lelouch said, stony-faced. "What about you?"

"…same. Not much."

Nothing was said about the giant Onix still roaming the city.

…**I love anime conventions. I can't believe how long this chapter turned out. I just got really carried away, with all the anime characters and references. It was fun! XD Hope you enjoyed it! I do not own any of the anime or characters that were used in this chapter!! Please review!! **


	4. The Traditional Japanese Summer

**Heellooooo and welcome to ****Because Euphie-sama Said So****! I hope you enjoy your stay! Thankyou for all your lovely reviews last chapter! ^_^ It's a pleasure to keep writing for ya all! I will be going back to change the chapter titles soon because they all sound boring right now, but until then hope you enjoy Chapter Four!**

It was summer in Area 11. The weather was becoming increasingly hot and even the evenings were sweltering hot, the sultry heat put most people in a bad mood until after sundown, when the temperature finally dropped to a more bearable heat.

Suzaku wiped beads of sweat from his forehead as he put down his wooden shinai and sighed. The sun was still pretty high in the sky and the weather wasn't going to cool down for quite a while. He adjusted his training robes and rested in the shade of the shrine.

Suddenly, he could hear someone's footsteps coming up the path towards the shrine. Suzaku got to his feet to see who it was. It was one of the servants from the Brittanian estate.

"Is there a problem?" Suzaku stood to attention immediately.

"Kururugi-san," The maid was breathing heavily, as though she'd just been running, "It's Euphemia-hime!"

Suzaku's face went pale. "What?"

**Chapter Four: The Traditional Japanese Summer**

Suzaku bolted down the corridors of the building till he got to the large double doors of Euphemia's personal lounge room. Throwing the doors open, he ran inside, disheveled, still in his training robes, shouting, "Euphemia-sama!"

The said girl looked up from where she was seated on a fancy antique recliner. In front of her was a small glass-topped coffee table. Beside was a silver trolley loaded with various sweets and treats. Across from her on the wall the huge TV was playing on low volume what looked like the newest episodes of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

"Eu… Euphemia-sama?" Suzaku looked lost.

"Suzaku!" Her face instantly brightened up at his presence. "You're here at last!"

Suzaku exhaled heavily, wiped his sweaty forehead with his arm, his slightly damp, wet robes clinging to him. He was still holding his training sword. "I…I came immediately. I thought... something had happened to you, Princess…"

Euphie stared at the disheveled knight for a moment, touched. Then she burst into her usual sweet smile. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Suzaku-kun,"

Suzaku let out a relieved smile as he went to stand dutifully beside the princess. "What is it that you require of me, Euphie-sama?"

She rose from her seat, a secretive smile bouncing on her lips. "Close your eyes."

"Huhh?" Suzaku couldn't help it, his face heated up. Euphemia was leaning closer towards him, an accusing whiney tone picking up in her voice. "Come on, Suzaku, close your eyes!"

The poor flustered knight did as he was told. His face proceeded to turn pinker as he felt her presence draw closer to him, smell her scented perfume. He heard her giggle.

"…Euphemia-sama…?" He felt like an idiot, standing there, eyes closed. "What-"

"Open your mouth."

"Huhh?" With just that command, the already heated Suzaku felt his temperature soar up another ten degrees.

He shyly opened his mouth and then was shocked by the soft touch of her hand on his arm and her long soft hair falling down onto his shoulders and tickling his fingers.

She was so… close to him! Suzaku struggled to keep his mind out of the gutter, lectured himself, beat himself up over it. _No! No… Euphemia-sama is a princess! She's not… _

And even the seemingly innocent knight couldn't help but think the wrong things when commanded to close his eyes and open his mouth, especially while the gorgeous princess' face was only inches from his, for God's sake!

And then he felt something wet and sweet in his mouth. He almost fell over backwards.

It was cold. Really cold. Kinda like ice.

Suzaku opened his eyes, his face bright red. He looked, face flushing at the princess, standing in front of him with an adorable smile. In her hand she was holding an empty spoon.

"Eh?" Suzaku was flustered and confused, in addition to feeling horribly sheepish and embarrassed for his bad, bad thoughts about his dear princess.

She grinned. "It's kakigori!"

Suzaku's face slowly returned to its paler complexion. "Shaved ice?"

"Uhuh!" She nodded enthusiastically, her long wavy pink hair rippling down her back and over her shoulders.

He smiled gently at her. "But why?"

She pouted and pulled a face at him before bursting into a cute smile. "You know I like Japanese food, Suzaku-kun."

Suzaku smiled to himself. Yeah, he did indeed know that. The Brittanian princess was enchanted by everything Japanese, from anime fandomness to cosplay to food to tea ceremonies to onsen.

"Anyway, that's why I had to call you to come here as soon as possible," she explained as she sat down. "It's really hot outside and you'd been training for the last two hours, so I got some Japanese desserts for you to eat. And I didn't want the ice to melt."

Suzaku stared at the princess for a second too long. "You didn't have to do that, Euphemia-sama."

She looked disappointed now and hung her head. "But…" she started.

Suzaku felt pained. "You don't need to do so much for me, Euphie-sama. I am but your lowly knight; I don't deserve so much from you, my princess."

_And especially not, _thought Suzaku with gritted teeth_, for being shameless enough to think such selfish and bad thoughts about my princess! _

"I don't care," she said suddenly, looking straight up defiantly at him. "I just… wanted to spend a traditional Japanese summer with my favourite person."

"…_f-favourite_ person, Euphie?" Suzaku felt weak.

She was so defiant, so set in her words as she stared at him with her violet eyes. "And who better than Suzaku to help me do it! You know what the Japanese like to do best in summer, right?"

He didn't exactly know what to say. Relenting, the poor boy chuckled and sat down on a nearby stool. "Well… what desserts do you have there?"

She brightened up immediately and turned the silver trolley towards him, chattering on about the anmitsu and azuki shiratama.

After all, he could never reject or turn down his princess' requests or silly ideas. She went through phases, turning from one fandom to the other, changing her mind at the last minute, pulling him along with her as she chased after various dreams and tasks that she wanted to fulfill.

But…

"_I just… wanted to spend a traditional Japanese summer with my favourite person."_

She'd never know how some of the carefree things she said had grabbed him by the heart and made it ache.

* * *

"Please tell me you're joking, Euphie-sama…" Suzaku's face was pale.

His facial expression echoed the one of Kyon on the huge television screen on the wall.

"No…" Euphie's face was one of absolute innocence, unlike the devilish Haruhi Suzumiya who was now talking in low volume from the TV.

"Euphemia-sama, I honestly don't think this is a good idea," Suzaku tried again, patiently, politely, his hands held up in front of him.

It was only a matter of time before she would use her pleading, pouting face, which Suzaku was completely and utterly defenseless against. Suzaku could see it coming. And yep… there it was.

"Why not?" She looked up at him, the very picture of innocence, her violet eyes large and pleading, her mouth curved downwards into a little pout.

Suzaku felt his life force draining away as the maid brought him a watermelon and a long wooden stick.

Nevertheless, there they were, out on the porch overlooking the generous gardens of the Brittanian estate, standing on the deck and staring down at the watermelon at their feet.

_Suika-wari,_ Suzaku thought despairingly to himself, _where did she get these ideas?_

She grinned at him and held out the long wooden stick. "Would you like to go first, Suzaku?"

He faked a smile. "No thanks, your Highness."

She looked at him quizzically for a moment before nodding. "Okay." She bounced towards him and held out the blindfold.

He didn't understand at first.

"Suzakuuu," she whined, "Hurry up! Tie it on!"

And so Suzaku tied the blindfold onto the Brittanian princess, the whole time remorsefully thinking about how wrongly this could all be misunderstood and seen. And this was horrible, Suzaku scolded himself, his face bright red, luckily the princess couldn't see it. He could imagine what kind of things Rivalz and the student council president would say if they saw it. Something kinky, eh…? His face flamed up even more as he did the final knot.

"Okay!" Euphie was sounding way too enthusiastic for Suzaku's liking. Dangerously waving the stick around her, she commanded: "Now spin me around ten times!"

Sighing, Suzaku gently placed his hands onto her highness' thin shoulders. And almost immediately, pulled them straight off again.

"…Suzaku?" She turned around in his direction, although she couldn't see him. Which was a relief really, because Suzaku was about to pass out.

"I'm okay," he said furiously, as he righted himself and held onto her shoulders again. The whole blindfolded thing plus the whole touching his highness thing was a bit too much for him to handle at the moment. He still didn't feel right about the whole thing, even though Euphemia thought nothing about it all. Yet over and over, he felt constantly reminded by his lowly position, and how he shouldn't be touching her at all, not touching his beautiful princess; because she was Euphemia li Britannia and he was nothing compared to her.

He span her around ten times and then let her loose with a dangerous weapon as he ran and ducked for cover. Avoiding the dangerously swinging stick was harder than Suzaku's intensive military training. Yet although he was worried about being hit by Euphemia's wooden stick, he was more concerned about her walking into the wall, or the glass door, or falling off the porch altogether.

"Hyahh!" She cried happily as she swung the stick full strength at the ground, missing the watermelon completely, as she was facing the wrong way to begin with. Suzaku flinched at the huge sound of the stick smashing into the wooden porch.

"…Suzaku?" Her voice was tiny and scared, "I… I…"

"It's okay, Euphie-sama," Suzaku started, "you can try again."

"No..." she whimpered, "It's not that. I… I think I broke the porch."

Sure enough, right in front of her was a large gaping hole where the wood used to be, it was splintered and broken inwards. Suzaku was at a lot for words.

Her voice grew smaller and tearful. "Did I break it, Suzaku?" She mumbled, waving the stick out in front of her.

Suzaku thought fast, not wanting to upset the princess. Hurrying towards her, he quickly assured her, "Oh no, the porch is fine! You just missed the watermelon, that's all! Here, I'll give you some help."

He gently guided the princess all the way down the other end of the porch, subtly rolling the watermelon ahead with his foot.

Euphie gave the stick another swing, this time just nipping the watermelon. The watermelon bounced upwards from the impact on the wooden boards and fell off the porch. As Suzaku went to fetch the watermelon, Euphemia grew excited.

"Suzaku! Suzaku! I think I almost hit it! You saw that just then, didn't you?" She sounded like an excited child.

"Yeah," Suzaku agreed pleasantly, as he came back to replace the watermelon back where it had been. "It was so close, Euphie,"

Suzaku's words seemed to egg Euphie on. She brandished the wooden stick and declared, "Okay! I'll definitely get it this time! I know just where it is!"

She swung the wooden stick as hard as she could.

And then a lot of things happened at once.

"AAARGHHH!" yelled Suzaku in pain as he had been on the porch, bending over to replace the watermelon in the radius of Euphemia when she swung the stick, and the stick had hit him right in the head making him fall off the porch, still crying from the hit while Euphemia, who was blindfolded, tripped over the falling Suzaku's foot and tumbled onto him in a heap.

Meanwhile, the watermelon was rolling away merrily.

Suzaku came around quickly; groggily opening his eyes and closing them again a few times before snapping them wide open in horror. He was sprawled out on the ground with a splitting headache, and a gorgeous blindfolded girl lying on top of him. Not to mention that the blindfolded girl was Euphemia li Britannia, the princess he was devoted heart and soul to. And it was all so wrong for the poor injured knight to compute and before he knew it, he was passing out again.

* * *

"Suzaku!" Euphemia had her hands clapped together in front of her apologetically. "I'm so, so sorrryyyyy! Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit you, I'm sorry! It must really hurt! Are you going to be all right? Do you still hurt anywhere? Want me to get the doctor? Are you-"

Suzaku mumbled an incoherent reply from where he was laid out across the porch, managing to open his eyes as he looked upwards at Euphie. His sight was a little hazy and damn, his head _hurt!_ Sitting up in a rush, he immediately apologized, "Euphemia-sama! I'm sorry for passing out like that, what happen-"

"Suzaku-kun!" The relief on her face was enormous. "What are you apologizing for? That was my fault, I'm so sorry!"

Suzaku groaned and felt the back of his head where he could feel a huge lump growing and it was sore and bruised.

She was sitting beside him, her long pink hair falling down to the porch, looking down at him. Her violet eyes were sad and apologetic. "I'm sorry, Suzaku."

Suzaku sat there, slightly dazed for a moment. Then, forgetting himself for a moment, forgetting about their status and everything, he simply smiled. "It's okay,"

Euphie stared at him.

"Just…" He sighed before he lay back down again. "…let me sleep for a while."

It had been a hectic summer day and he was exhausted, sweaty and his head hurt. And Euphie sat there, beside him, out on the porch. And the heat finally let off as the sun started to set, a brief but cooling breeze rippled past them. And Euphemia sat very still and Suzaku lay there, resting.

She looked down at her knight, exhausted, the perspiration on his forehead slowly vanishing as the cooler temperature arrived, Suzaku in his training robes, battered from the day's watermelon-smashing events.

"Ne, Suzaku?" She said.

He made a noncommittal sound, as though he was listening.

"You know, I meant what I said before…" Euphemia smiled and her voice brightened. "You are…" and her voice softened tenderly, "…my most favourite person in the world, Suzaku."

If only she had said that while he was awake.

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! I still have a lot of Japanese Summer stuff I want to put in this fic, so stay tuned for festivals, yukata, goldfish scooping and unbearable amounts of takoyaki! I'm always opened to suggestions for odd or crazy tasks and ideas that Euphie might think up next! Feed me reviews! emichii. **


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